Painting advice!

[BellBoyBob]

Hi All:

I have applied two coats of the Pettit Easypoxy poly on the BellBoy. After the first coat, the entire top was wet-sanded with 400 and then I brushed on the second coat with a foam brush. The result is not bad. I do have two areas that sagged, one of them right under the "BellBoy" emblem!! the second coat is completely dry but I am not sure how to proceed. Is there a way I can touch up after sanding out the sags with 400 wet? I don't think I need a third coat. The red is deep and has a nice gloss.
What is your favorite technique for touching up a small area and feathering in the paint to what's already there?

Thanks so much,

Bob

[Steve_Kiesel]

Bob, I'm not sure how much sanding you had to do. But you might want to try buffing it out. You said you sanded wet with 400 grit, so buffing should polish that up just fine.

I've used the 3M products. Works pretty good. I've been able to remove brush strokes by buffing. Start out with a mild abrasive, and use a slow rotation. Then finish off with a polishing compound.

You can google for more details on the steps.

[McSkagit Tim Jones]

Repairing sags and runs in urethane

Haven't tried this myself, but I'm about to.

As it was explained to me, you sand out the run with 1000 grit paper, then go to 1500 and finally 2000 grit.

Then polish with a liquid polish such as 3M Perfect-It machine polish with a
3M Perfect-It foam polishing pad. Use 2500 rpm or less with the Perfect-It pad. PS, the 3M products are spendy.

McSkagit

[BellBoyBob]

I have done nothing since applying the second coat of paint. I brushed it on, then went out of town for 2 days only to come back home to discover the two sags. I think i could gently sand them out with 400 wet. With polyurethane, how long should I wait before trying a buffer to smooth out the sanded areas? Should the paint cure for a couple of weeks?

[ricphoto]

only 2? geez...consider yourself lucky

I waited 2 days after the 2nd coat and gently sanded out the runs with 600 wet/dri and a rubber block...followed up with something similar to Tims' suggested routine on a small 12" test area and was amazed at the results...almost tempted to skip the 3rd coat but I've been advised that with the 1 part polys that it's better to do 3-4 thinner coats especially in the traffic areas...

...Ric

[BellBoyBob]

Thanks, guys, for all the help. It seems the answer to the blending of coats is buffing. I have a high speed buffer and a bonnet I have used for aggressive cut compound when buffing out the gel coat in the past. What, exactly, would you use to do this job (making sag repairs disappear) What strength compound (or polish?) would you use? What kind of bonnet? Foam? I really want to get this right because a). I want to get it right! and b). I am taking the BellBoy to the Antique and Classic Boat Show in Clayton NY. I will be up against all the PERFECT Chris-Craft and Century boys!

Bob

[McSkagit Tim Jones]

Cure times polyurethanes

Don't know about cure times with one part polyurethanes, but the two part polys are pretty hard after two days.

The guys from the glass shop said they wouldn't touch the boat until the paint had cured two weeks. One week seems plenty.

I tried the Perfect-It machine polish on a small section rubbing by hand. I was amazed at the luster after only a short time.

Hope this helps.....

Tim

[Tim_Mattson]

Small run fix

Bob,
Sags seem to appear if any reducer is used at some point.Small ones can actually be scraped away bit by bit with a fresh razor blade.
I`ve taped off around a drip and gotten it pretty smooth without too much effort.We use this trick while doing on-the-water painting on the big Yachts where a sander just isn`t kosher.
They will shrink over a few weeks but the thicker spot can still be somewhat soft.Waiting is always better,a few light bulbs or small heater under a tarped boat can shorten the dry time and get things harder.
A run or two can actually help "Prove" you did the hard way ,anybody can spray it on........
TimM

[BellBoyBob]

Ha Ha, Tim! That is euphemistic thinking! I will want to buff the thing eventually. While the Merc was off, I cleaned and spayed it with gloss black enamel and boy does it look new! The boat IS stunning in red. When I am done reassembling and polishing, the pics will come up!
Thanks for all your help,

Bob